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SALT LAKE CITY – The Westminster men's basketball team begins its back-to-back Frontier Conference Tournament title defense with a quarterfinal game against Lewis-Clark State in the Behnken Field House on Wednesday, March 2 at 7 p.m.

Westminster is the tournament's No. 4 seed while LC State is the No. 5 seed.

Westminster finished the regular season at 20-8 overall and 8-6 in the Frontier Conference. They begin the conference tournament after suffering two road losses at Montana State-Northern and Great Falls. The Griffins went 12-1 at home during the regular season and 6-1 on conference games.

The team averages a Frontier-best 76.7 points per game and shoots another Frontier leading 49.6% from the field. They average 13.7 assists per game and are sixth nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.17. Defensively, Westminster opponents shoot 44.5% from the floor and commit 14.7 turnovers per contest.

Michael Stockton tops the Griffin in scoring at 18 points per contest. The senior guard shoots 54.7% from the field while recording 4.3 assists and 1.96 steals per game. Jake Orchard scores 16.6 points and collects 5.3 rebounds per game. Tanner Gregory is third on the team in scoring at 10.4 points per game.

About the Warriors
Lewis-Clark State finished the regular season at 16-11 and fifth in the Frontier at 6-8. They split two games to end the regular season last weekend, but the Warriors have dropped six of the last eight games they have played. They lost both games against the Griffins this season including an 82-70 loss in Salt Lake City on January 22. David Johnson averaged 23.5 points per game this year against Westminster. Darin Stewart averages 11 points in two games with the Griffins.

Griffins TV
Wednesday's quarterfinal game will be available to watch live on Griffins TV. Mike Lageschulte will handle the play-by-play duties with Lance Barton providing color commentary. The broadcast begins approximately 15 minutes prior to the 7 p.m. tipoff and head coach Tommy Connor joins the broadcast in the postgame.

Live Stats
Live Stats will be available for Wednesday's game. The stat feed is available at tipoff and can be accessed at WestminsterGriffins.com

Frontier Tournament History
Westminster is 16-9 all-time at the Frontier Conference Tournament. The team's first tournament win came against Great Falls in 2003. They have won back-to-back tournament titles and are riding a six-game winning streak in the postseason event. Westminster has never lost a tournament game under the current format, having played all six games at home.

Selection Show on VSN
The 2011 NAIA National Championships Selection Show will be broadcast live by the Victory Sports Network on Wednesday, March 9. The broadcast will begin at 6 p.m. MST with all 16 first round matchups being presented along with tournament seeds and game times. The broadcast will be available, live and on-demand, at www.livestream.com/victorysports.

Dynamic Duo
Westminster holds one of the top 1-2 punches in the NAIA entering the final weekend. Jake Orchard and Michael Stockton combine to average 34.64 points per game with each shooting above 54% from the field. They are the sixth-highest scoring duo in the NAIA and the only two teammates in the top 15 in field goal percentage. The pair can also be found in the NAIA top 50 in free throw percentage and steals. Stockton also ranks in the top 50 in assists and assist-to-turnover ratio.

Nothing but Net
Westminster is rated in the Frontier Conference's top four in all three shooting percentage categories. The Griffins lead the conference in field goal percentage by shooting 49.6% from the field. They are also tops in the conference at the foul line at 75.9% and fourth in 3-point shooting at 35.3%. They rank fifth nationally in field goal percentage and second in free throw percentage. The Griffins have a True Shooting Percentage of 60.6%. True shooting percentage is a measure of shooting efficiency that takes into account field goals, 3-point field goals, and free throws.

Massey Ratings
Westminster is rated 22nd in the latest Massey Ratings that were released on February 26. The Griffins have a rating of 0.732 and are the third-best rated team in the Frontier Conference. According to the ratings, Westminster has played at 15th-toughest schedule while the Frontier Conference is rated as the second-best conference.

NAIA Coaches' Poll
For the second time in four weeks the Griffins have slipped out of NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll. They received one point in the February 28 poll to sit among the other teams receiving votes. Earlier this season they snapped a run of 31 consecutive polls ranked in the top 25.

Home Cooking
Since the Behnken Field House opened in 2005, Westminster has gone 71-7 at home. The .910 winning percentage is tops in the Frontier Conference during that time. The Griffins are 12-1 at home this season. Westminster is 38-4 (.905) at home in Frontier Conference action in Behnken. The two home losses last season was the first time the team had lost twice at home in a season in that time span.

Looking Ahead
A win on Wednesday would advance the Griffins to the semi-finals of the tournament and a game on Saturday, March 5. The game will most likely be a road game, but the opponent and location will not be known until all the Wednesday games are complete.